Ankyra Sound BWP: Borrow Trouble

BWP: Your character discovers fairy circles in an unlikely place

Ankyra Sound was still widely regarded as hallowed ground to the wolves of Sapphique; and so, it was routinely visited almost as if it was an extension of border patrols, while Chacal knew better than to leave any scent markings to claim the otherwise neutral territory. Here were echoes of a past that was only remembered in glimpses and untold stories. Some heaviness that existed in the air, full of the ghosts of those who had weathered and conquered the thrashing of the waves in stormy seasons. 

But it was after a rainfall that Chacal meandered along the shore, and for the first time she noticed something very startling and new in the sand. Fine and beige, the sand that rose into dunes where the surf couldn't reach was soft yet heavy, and often allowed little other than the sparse, coarse sea grass to grow. Even then, the waves kept all the sea grass at bay below the tideline. But for some reason, provoked by some inexplicable natural cause, she found little sprigs of very new sea grass sprouting up from the still-wet sand as the tide pulled further and further out to sea. 

Even more unusual yet was the fact that the grass blade grew in wide circles, here and there, below the tideline where a variety of shells and kept had been left on the shore. She meandered from one to the next, noting how unusual it was for the grass to grow this far down the beach. Come sunset, she knew the tide would rise up again and drown the grasses- but for now, it would rise in the warm sunlight, and Chacal carefully side-stepped as she investigated, making sure not to step within the fairy circles and disturb whatever playful spirit had chosen to set them there.

much like chacal, val had reason to visit the sound often. svalinn did his best to keep interlopers at bay, and for his part in sapphique, val tried too. but there was another reason, one he could not put into words even if he'd tried.

he felt a pull here; though he did not know it, a great many things transpired in these halls and every one of them had done their part to see him come to be.

trotting down the familiar slope val detected chacal's scent. her children were old enough now they could be watched communally; val wondered if she wanted for company today.

he did not realize the grass had encroached further down the beach until he came upon it. for this he was grateful, though he still made a wide berth of the shoreline as he trotted after chacal's form.

At the sound of footsteps on the sand- faint as they were- she swung her head to look over her shoulder, sending Val an inviting smile and waving her tail to welcome her as she inspected the new growth along the beach. She had to wonder if this was normal, or if this was some sign of things yet to come- and while she was not terribly superstitious, she chose not to step within the grass rings that grew, as though fearful the sand was a trap she might fall into. 

When she craned her neck to look further, she could see that the rings spread down the beach, along the tideline, for as far as she could see. She huffed, turning her head to address Val when she saw just how many patches of unusual growth had popped up, exhaling in disbelief to see if he had an explanation.

chacal's warm smile and easy wag of her tail bid him close, yet the rings halted him in his tracks. he followed her gaze down the strand -- how many of these things were there?

and better yet, what do they mean? chacal's exhale of disbelief prompted val to do much the same -- his breath unwound from him like a loosened coil, in an admixture of awe and superstition alike.

Chacal shrugged, and frowned. Their meaning was lost on her- though she thought to call upon Suzu and see what she made of it, as her daughter had an unusual knack for understanding natural phenomena. She knew that mushrooms sometimes grew in faerie circles, and that the general belief was that one should not step inside the ring. 

But this wasn't mushrooms- this was sea grass. 

She was curious. 

She stepped closer to a ring, and lifted one paw. She reached forward, dangling her paw above the curved line of grass poking up through the sand, and then reached within. She lowered it, but hovered it just above the sand. 

Then, she turned and looked at Val with a stark stare- wanting to test just how superstitious he was.

val had never seen such a thing. a ring of emerald grass on a naked beach; if he was fully superstitious, surely he'd consider it an omen.

in any event, grass was better than a bear. val's tail hung undecided as chacal rose a svelte and darkling paw over the band of green. she turned back to look at him, molten gaze jolting something in val.

de loa! it will curse you! val barked with a wild grin, his accent unusually exaggerated as he aimed to startle his sister. while val had grown in rusalka, and later sapphique, his time away had ensured his accent never evolved into a brogue. in some ways he was aware of how this set him apart from the clade of his sisters, and regretted it. he took a more somber tone, taking a few steps closer. i wonder what maman would think of it.

She spooked and faltered with her balance, and ended up pressing a perfectly shaped pawprint into the sand just inside the grass ring. The fur of her hackles flew up as if she'd been shocked, and she whipped her head toward Valravn with the biggest frown she could manage, looking every bit as wide-eyed and wild as an oscar fish. She cringed and pulled her paw back. Surely, it was his fault- and even though she'd been the one to step inside the ring, he was the one who was responsible, right?

She'd not been terribly superstitious until that moment, so she drew in a breath to calm her own nerves down and to keep herself from smacking Val across the face for startling her so badly. 

"I well let you know what I see,
when de spirits come for me," She said, rolling her eyes as she placed her paw back on the ground- outside the fairy circle.

val's shout had the intended effect, but any joy he felt was curdled by the smolder of chacal's stare.

despite the fall of his easy grin, val was not so easily dissuaded. he stepped alongside the tanzanite, placing his own pawprint neatly adjacent to her own. for a moment it glistened with water, the grass slowly returning to its former shape.

a perfect, tidy little pair.

well, if it happens to us both, we'll be better in numbers.

Slightly superstitious, she stiffened when Val moved to step within the circle with one paw though she did not move to stop him. There were few others whose company she would accept when it came to being dogged by spirits. They had seen their fair share of demons together already- she doubted that the supernatural could throw something at the two of them that they could not endure.

Her appreciation for the gesture shone for a moment in her eyes which became glossy as she fought back tears. She blinked and rolled her shoulders. 
”Is is easier for me, dis way, ‘it’s true.
I will not ‘ave to outrun spirits, only you.” 

She was being proactive. It was a good habit. 

She brushed her shoulder alongside his affectionately before she began to meander down the beach, curious to see just how far the circles ranged.

a glint of tears in her anzac-gold gaze. val pulled from the circle as chacal blinked and rolled the soft arch of her shoulders.

if you are calling me fat, you’d be very right. val countered in mock-umbrage, falling in step as she brushed his shoulders and strolled down the strand.

he kept on the forest-side of her, allowing chacal to be his buffer from the sea. maybe the ocean has something to do with them.. a sad smile broke across his dark muzzle as he thought of rosalyn and erzulie — what would they have made of this emerald spectacle?

There was a poignancy to the moment that even their humour couldn’t break. It softened it, though- a coping mechanism they both seemed to rely on. She moved alongside him, knowing his fear of the water. She would shield him from everything- from his own fears to realities.

He gazed past her and her heart ached too, to think that perhaps their mothers had had some part in the appearance of the strange circles. ”Per’aps,” she chimed thoughtfully. Maybe it was a sign that they were trying to remind them to be strong, to be together. The way some of the circles overlapped was symbolic enough.

they walked alongside the fairy circles of verdant grass, chacal’s form shielding val from the encroaching waves.

in this way, he supposed this was how it had always been. how it always should be, too.

the kids would get a kick out of them. he wondered what each would think of these enchanting rings; what gods or monsters would their creative minds imagine painted the first brush stroke of these emerald rings? think we should show them? or keep it to ourselves?

Going to tidy this one here up for the BWP, but always would love another <3

The kids. He was so fond of them, and so involved. Her children and Mireille's would know a man that they could look up to and lean on, something not all children of Sapphique got to experience. His words shifted in her mind, and were interpreted as our children, which felt much both fond and true. She wished that Sobo could be there, as well, to guide his nieces and nephews, and teach them of the loa, but they would know his story. 

Perhaps it was the loa who had left the circles on the beach. A tear prickled at the corner of her eye, and she nodded. The children should see, and know what it was to experience the light magic of things.

<333 thank u for the thread

our children would have flown right by val -- who felt a communal responsibility for all of them. each was his family, each his kin -- and he cared for each in his own way.

he missed the quiet tear that collected in chacal's eye -- but from her gaze, he could tell she was longing and far away for a moment. several feelings eclipsed him then; and like chacal, his mind wandered to those who had moved beyond as they made for home.

their stories would live on forever. val would never allow them to be forgotten in his life time.